Almost one night, Zhou's father couldn't fall asleep, or he just closed his eyes and dreamed of the person in his heart.

So much so that he woke up very early, and when he saw that there was no movement in the two rooms, he took out a note from the sideboard in the living room, left a message for Zhou Tang and Cheng Mu respectively, and left fragrant and soft rice, and went out alone.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the curtain in front of the window changes from a starry night to a rising sun, and the simulated sunlight pours into the room.

Zhou Tang was blinded by the bright light, her body shrank down, buried her whole head in the quilt, and after a while, she slowly showed her head, looking at the window with sleepy eyes.

If you take a closer look, there is a lot of light, but there is no temperature, and it is a vain appearance.

Zhou Tang got out of bed and dressed, opened the door and planned to go to the bathroom to wash.

As soon as he opened the door, Cheng Mu was sitting on a chair in the living room, and when he saw her, the corners of his mouth were slightly hooked, obviously in a good mood, "Zhou Tang, you're awake!" ”

Zhou Tang looked left and right, and Cheng Mu immediately replied, "He went out first!" ”

His eyes swept over Zhou Tang and looked at the door of her room, "He left a note for one of us." ”

Zhou Tang followed Cheng Mu's gaze, found a note at the door of the room, and stepped forward to tear off the note.

It reads: Tangtang good girl, Dad is going to work overtime today, and the meal has been prepared on the stove, and it will be hot when he gets up.

It's not a word that there is an Uncle Cheng at home, and...

Zhou Tang casually put the note into his pocket, "Wait a minute!" I'll wash up first. ”

Half an hour later, the two sat down in their chairs and enjoyed breakfast together.

After eating and drinking, Zhou Tang lazily proposed, "Let's talk here." ”

It is good to be hidden at home, and you don't have to pay attention to the people around you all the time, and you can keep the content of their conversations very confidential.

"I think we guessed it!"

Cheng Mu reached out and pinched his forehead, and his slender fingers pressed his temples, "It..."

Zhou Tang changed his previous lazy posture and asked with a correct posture, "You told me that the Interstellar Alliance Military Department found that the game "Ancient Blue Star" was attacked by an unknown virus, and the consequences were extremely serious.

The virus causes the NPCs in some copies of the game to awaken their consciousness, and these NPCs choose the appropriate body from the players who enter the quest to reveal their identity, and then replace these players in real life.

Real players are trapped or die in the dungeon. ”

Cheng Mu nodded solemnly, this was what he said when he first met Zhou Tang in real life and persuaded her to join the military department.

"So do you think it's the NPCs that generate self-awareness, or is the consciousness brought by the virus being put on the NPCs?"

The question raised by Zhou Tang is very novel, and it can be regarded as considering the problem from a new angle.

In the military department, the first thing people who come into contact with this mission are thinking that this is someone or some group in the Interstellar Alliance maliciously creating such an evil virus, deliberately putting it into the popular game "Ancient Blue Star", and using the virus to stimulate NPCs to become self-conscious.

Replace the consciousness of the people in the alliance with the consciousness of NPCs, thereby disrupting the order and causing a great earthquake in the interstellar alliance......

"Tell me about the difference between the two?"

Zhou Tang complained in her heart, it seemed that she and Cheng Mu had worked together for so many copies, and the relationship between the two was harmonious and harmonious, and the cooperation became more and more familiar.

No matter how you look at it, you look like a friendly and happy colleague to work with.

It's just that this is all a false phenomenon in the game, in real life, Cheng Mu is a boss who coerced and lured her to join the military department and complete the task.

Thinking of this, Zhou Tang's eyes were calm, and his voice was cold and hard, "The virus stimulates NPCs to produce self-awareness, can it be equated with the robots in the alliance generating thoughts?" They learn to think, imitate humans, and want to fit in? ”

Cheng Mu thought about it along this idea, and the root of the game NPC was a string of code created by humans, which was not much different from the program set up in the robot's brain.

If I had to name the difference, it would be that the robot is more elaborately designed, with dozens or hundreds of pages of code, while NPCs have only one line and a few more pages of code...

Then such NPCs can generate their own thoughts, and robots with consciousness will be more intelligent and excellent.

And in the Interstellar Alliance, everyone has been avoiding robots being able to think! Self-awareness is even more disallowed.

Can this virus do this?

Even if the virus does have this effect, what is the ultimate purpose of the people who created and possessed it?

But...

Cheng Mu thought about it again, if there really is such a super-lethal virus, then its owner does not have to use a game and use such a roundabout way to show it!

Until he re-entered the game quest, they had found less than ten actual cases like this in the Alliance.

It's too inefficient to do this...

Simply drop the virus directly on all the robots in the Interstellar Alliance, and these robots are completely capable of making the Interstellar Alliance very bad.

So...

Is it the second type?

"Let's talk about the second possibility."

"The second one is even simpler, there is consciousness in the virus, they just stay on the NPC for the time being, and it seems that the NPC has become self-aware! It's essentially the same as us players entering the game! ”

Cheng Mu equated the players with these NPCs who became self-aware due to the interference of the virus.

"They... And there is no body! ”

Zhou Tang took a deep breath, she finally chose to tell her secrets, but where did she go......

"Do you remember the concept of 'immortality' that I mentioned to you in the previous copy?"

Seeing Cheng Mu nodding, Zhou Tang turned his gaze to the room, in the window curtain of the room, it was now sunny, and there were green trees outside the window.

The scenery is so relaxing and relaxing.

Zhou Tang's eyes didn't seem to look at the blue sky, white clouds and green trees anymore, but just recalled something through this picture.

She said faintly, "The topic of immortality is the ultimate pursuit of many human beings in all ages!

When you were a child, you only thought about eating, drinking, and having fun, and you also wanted to grow up quickly and become an adult.

When we reach adulthood and have a strong body, we will choose to explore the mysteries of the universe, and we will also be steadfast in our original intention.

In short, we have the power to do whatever we want to do during this period.

But when we enter old age, when our body ages, our face deteriorates, and even you can feel that the strength of your body is getting worse day by day, you will have a new desire in your heart.

Especially the kind of rich people and families who have stood at the top of the alliance. They aspire to live a few more years and have everything for a long time. ”

Cheng Mu, who was in the prime of life, didn't really understand these people's physical and mental demands for "longevity", but he understood and clearly understood that what Zhou Tang said was correct.

But he still put forward his own opinion, "In the Interstellar Alliance Medical Alliance, I have been studying the topic you put forward to want immortality. But unfortunately, the medical alliance has done its best to develop our human genes to the extreme, and has also studied many ways and means to extend the life expectancy of human beings to between 150 and 200 years. ”

"But it's not really immortality." Zhou Tang's gaze still fell on the blue sky, white clouds and green trees, and Cheng Mu only saw nothingness in her eyes, and the freedom that she could never grasp and have.

I don't know why, he especially doesn't like to feel emotions from Zhou Tang's body and eyes.

"What do you want to say about immortality?"

Zhou Tang sighed lightly, "I remember that there was a plan on the Ancient Blue Star, called the Blue Brain Project. It is the reproduction of the consciousness and thinking mode generated by the human brain, as well as the person's experiences and experiences from childhood to adulthood, and all the relevant information on the computer. ”

"That is to say, this person died in real life, but he did not really die, he is still alive in the world created by the computer, that is, in the virtual world."

"It's also an 'alternative' kind of immortality." Zhou Tang finally retracted his gaze and stared at Cheng Mu tightly.

Cheng Mu sneered, "This is indeed another kind of immortality. ”

Zhou Tang shook his head, "I have only seen such a plan in ancient history, even the beginning and end time of the plan, how many people participated in this plan, and whether this plan has changed from quantitative to qualitative over time... You and I don't know anything about this. ”

Being uninformed means we don't know the depths.

Cheng Mu was silent.

"We're a little bit off the beaten track." Zhou Tang turned and said, "This topic of immortality can only show that it is the beginning of the whole thing. ”

"The owners of the virus may have something to do with this."

"And the last two or three dungeons we've experienced, none of them have a specific boss, it's... It's as if they're showing us this through these three copies. ”

"Whether it's good or bad, we don't know! Or even what exactly is it trying to do? Who the hell is it? We don't know. ”

……

It wasn't until almost noon that Zhou Tang sent Uncle Cheng away.

The neighbor's grandmother Wu saw No. 187 Zhou Tang and a young man going in and out openly, and her eyes widened.

"You! You... You girl! It's going to be a bad thing. ”

Zhou Tang didn't care about Grandma Wu's smear against her, and sent Cheng Mu out for a long time without looking back.

Cheng Mu walked carelessly, and his heart was repeatedly circulating Zhou Tang's words, 'We are the ones closest to this answer, I guess one is about my mother, and the other is about your work, which will bring us inspiration'.

At noon, Cheng Mu returned to the third maintenance department and met Zhou's father who came back for dinner.

"Brother Zhou, I haven't slept so peacefully for a long time, and I slept all at once." Cheng Mu's face said that there was a flush that seemed to be nothing.

Father Zhou didn't care, but turned his head sideways, seeing that there was no third person around them, and complained to him, "The environment of this dormitory is too bad, and people come and go!" You, you have to be tight for the past two years, save some more money, and report to buy an outside workshop at a low price like me! Move out of the dorm early!

Don't be reluctant to live in the dormitory without rent, etc., this person is comfortable, so that he can devote all his energy to work. Hey, why can't they think of that?! ”

Father Zhou's words became lower and lower, and Cheng Mu didn't reply, but waited for him to finish before he said, "Brother Zhou, there is one more thing to tell you, when I came out of your house before, Tang Tang gave me a way, and I happened to be seen by the mother-in-law next door to your house!" ”

Father Zhou waved his hand indifferently, "Grandma Wu!" I know, I'll make it clear to her when I go back! His grandmother has always been at home, and she likes these parents to be short and gossipy. ”

He patted his head, knowing that at this time, he felt as if he had done something wrong, and he shouldn't have thought about avoiding the child's inquiry and leaving Zhou Tang and Cheng Mu at home.

He looked at Cheng Mu again, Cheng Mu was actually five years older than Tang Tang...

After Cheng Mu greeted Zhou's father, he returned to his office.

As soon as I sat down, the seat was not yet hot, and I was urgently called away by the director of the office to deal with things.

After Zhou Tang saw Cheng Mu leave the street of this flat building, he thought about this weekend, so he wandered around.

In the mountain and river cave, there are flat buildings, middle streets, and high-built buildings.

Among them, the flat house is the best and most expensive, because it only has one storey bungalow, while the other two have many families on top of each other.

Out of the Shanhe Cave, Zhou Tang followed yesterday's memories and continued to walk towards the street where people came and went out of school.

I don't know if it's because of the weekend, but there are obviously many more people on the street than yesterday.

If she didn't know for sure that the place was underground, she would only think she was wandering through the bustling shopping streets of some big city.

She is aimless, stop-and-go.

Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey! Zhou Tang! I didn't expect to meet you in Jinjie! ”

Zhou Tang turned around, it was her tablemate.

"Hey, I said, why did you run so fast after school yesterday? Don't we both get out of school together every day? You live in a flat building, I live in a high-rise building! It's all in the mountains and rivers caves. ”

"Hey, were you told to my heart yesterday! Embarrassed to run away? If you study secretly, you can learn! I don't mind if you hide behind your back and start a small stove! ”

The table mate was grinning, and his eyes were full of smiles, and it seemed that he was the same on the outside, and he said everything he thought.

Zhou Tang deliberately explained, "No! It's almost my eighteenth birthday, and I want to get home to my dad as soon as possible. ”

Sure enough, as Zhou Tang expected, the original body and Zhou Tang did have nothing to talk about, and he knew most of Zhou Tang's things.

"Oooh! It's your birthday! Your eighteenth birthday is coming! It's the twenty-nine, right, tomorrow... Day after tomorrow! Hey, my birthday has long passed this year, and I have to wait until next year, in March! ”

Zhou Tang glanced at his tablemate, turned around and left.

The same table was hurried, "Eh! "You guy!" I know! What do you want to say, isn't it just the agreement between you and your dad? ”

"But I think your dad will be dragging his feet a little bit back!"

Zhou Tang slowed down, and his whole body exuded unhappiness.

"I'm right, right? Your dad must have rejected you yesterday! If you want me to say it! Why do you care so much about your mother? She hasn't been there for more than ten years......"

Zhou Tang suddenly turned his head and glared at the same table, and then rushed forward quickly.

The same table was silent all of a sudden, and after reacting, he hurriedly grabbed Zhou Tang's arm, "I said nonsense!" Is my palm mouth good! ”

"But I sincerely persuade you, your father tried his best to hide it, and it is probably not a good thing."

"Like my grandmother said, bad things should be let go with the wind."